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Thread: Belt Sanders .... Again.
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21st January 2016, 02:36 AM #1Novice
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Belt Sanders .... Again.
Poor little GMC finally disintegrated a while back. It seems that using it like a 10yr old 4" Makita, wasnt good for its health .. ..
The DIY woodworking jobs have been on hold for a while as I scoured the few local garage sales and internet offerings.
... and for some reason/reasons, ... probably, desperation, wallet capacity and location rather than the name stuck on the side of it ... I ended up with this, after a trip to town on the weekend.
Was a great deal ... In addition to being able to tidy up 3 sides of a 3ft length of 4x2 pine, once, ... It does double duty as an orbital sheet sander/hammer drill, and patio heater.
I dont think it lasted the twenty minutes, that some other bloke managed in a woodworkforums thread, I read tonight.
Now, since it appears its going to cost me 4hrs hwy travel, and the associated costs, maybe every 4 days, for a warranty exchange .... ... I guess my question is,
... Is it worthwhile paying for 2016 models of new Makita, Hitachi or Bosch, in the "better" classes,
... or do I go back to hoping for a garage sale with an old something, thats not too knocked about ?
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21st January 2016 02:36 AM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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21st January 2016, 09:33 AM #2
I know a few people who "save money" by buying from garage sales, auctions, etc and with the exception of an occasional "genuine bargain", bemoan the fact that "damn thing must have been abused or a cheap buy of the previous owner".
I work on the philosophy of buying the best quality, proven trade reliability tool that I can afford and so far it has proven to be the best strategy all round.
Let the moths out for some vitamin D and get a decent sander, you will not regret it.The person who never made a mistake never made anything
Cheers
Ray
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21st January 2016, 10:16 AM #3.
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We've all heard the anecdotes of cheap versus quality power tools.
Like any population of things, for every 100 cheap tools X percentage will survive a beating and live a long life.
For every 100 quality tools Y percentage will survive a beating and live a long life.
Over about 100 tools Y will be greater than X but sometimes you can get lucky.
So you basically have to gamble on the values of X and Y.
If you are a tradie where time is money then you may have a different view point than a DIY operator.
About 2 decades ago I was not in a financial position to buy better quality tools so I ended up with a number of cheapies,
The Ozito angle grinder that I have "treated like a piece of $hi7 and don't care if it dies" is still going as is the Ozito percussion drill/jackhammer.
OTOH the biscuit cutter lasted about 2 years and the ROS developed a serious vibration problem after about 15 months.
In the last few decade I have tried to purchase better quality and all of these have lasted.
The Blue Bosch drill was worked so hard that at one point is started making a burn plastic smell.
I opened it up and found part of the case had softened and was rubbing up against the armature. I cut the offending piece away and it has continue to work for several years.
A better quality of power tool can be had at a garage sale where the chances are that a tool has not been maltreated too long or hard.
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21st January 2016, 11:18 AM #4SENIOR MEMBER
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21st January 2016, 03:24 PM #5Taking a break
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Get a Makita, even second hand, they're still made in Japan and some of the best you can get. I couldn't guess how many dining tables the one at work flattened before we bought a wide belt sander.
Tried a Hitachi once, it was so unbalanced it got returned within the hour.
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21st January 2016, 04:59 PM #6Senior Member
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For me the AEG sander be useless, my Makita gets used for all sorts of shaping things that it probably shouldn't do but having the belt exposed at the front is a must for me.
I went from a 90 dollar Ryobi to a 350 dollar Makita and it was worth every penny, I would like a bit higher belt speed but I guess torque is more important.
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27th January 2016, 03:56 PM #7SENIOR MEMBER
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I got the Maktek (Makitas cheaper brand). Can't fault it. Have given it a fair flogging over the last five years.
The world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel.
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27th January 2016, 04:00 PM #8
The above posters have largely given you what you needed but I offer the following. If buying a even trade quality tool at a garage sale, at bargain price or not, make sure it has the parts & accessories you need and doesn't require new parts. A missing dustbag, worn sanding plate, platen or clutch can be expensive, time consuming and frustrating.
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27th January 2016, 07:42 PM #9Novice
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heh heh .... the suggestion to buy, relatively expensive, trade tools, for occaisional home use in the shed ... has been duely noted ..
I thought I had given up the need to spend that much money when I stopped offsiding a chippy years ago.
All replies were appreciated tho ... The Hitachi balance issue especially.
Seems sad that with the proliferation of available sanders, that even when bypassing the obvious cheapies, and spending $200 ... a bloke still only gets a $60 cheapy, that exhibits the same faults a previous model had, three years earlier.
... still ... I guess the factory can be proud of its consistency in manufacturing ?? ..
One thing I was interested to know tho ... Is the new makita the quality it was ... or are they too, now, more interested in sales over reliability ??
Agree totally ... Ive ignored a bunch at sales, that were obviously just relying on the brand sticker - to hold them together.
Anyways ... the dud has been refunded and the money got spent on a 4" maktec at gasweld ... wish me luck ..
...Stop shaking your heads you fellas ... Not all of us can pad the kitchen reno quote for Mrs Smith - to cover the cost of flash new tools ..
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29th January 2016, 11:31 PM #10Novice
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Wellll ... since the weather was lousy for serious jobs today,
... I unwrapped the maktec 941 and had a play.
Grabbed a 6ft x 8in x 3in ironbark plank I use for various tasks,
... and it now has a smooth work surface again, and less splinters everywhere else, for when I toss it up on the sawhorses.
Also cleaned up a coupla old table tops that had all the shellac or whatever, cracking and peeling.
At first I didnt think it was doing anything ... and then I realised the dust was actually going in the bag,
... just like a proper belt sander ..
Definitely not as powerful as the full pedigree Makita version but seems more than adequate for tinkering at home,
... time will tell I guess.
The supplied belt was a bit ordinary - as it bumped a bit at the join ... but putting an old Makita one I had lying around on it - seemed to solve that issue.
The supplied bracket for using it upside on a bench was a bonus ... will make it as handy as a bosch.
If it blows up anytime soon ... I'll let you'se know ..
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6th March 2016, 02:16 PM #11Senior Member
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I saw last year the Makita small compound mitre saw is a lot cheaper than it used to be - now made in china and the quality or lack thereof is evident. So check carefully if looking at Makita.
AEG has a six year warranty. So I presume they must be doing something to improve the quality of the cheap orange tools or they will go broke.
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6th March 2016, 10:15 PM #12Senior Member
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6th March 2016, 10:20 PM #13Taking a break
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8th March 2016, 12:41 AM #14
The 6 year guarantee by AEG doesn't require you to keep the receipt. You register the machine serial numbers on their website and upload a copy of the receipt; a couple of days later your item is registered.
Can I ask what went wrong with the sander? I ask because I have one and it has coped with many meters of redgum and merbau without any dramas. I've bought a few 18V cordless tools and the corded ROS and not had a problem with any of them either. Did the magic smoke escape or something mechanical choose to no longer be a team player?
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8th March 2016, 11:06 AM #15
I have worn out a few sanders over the years. None of then quality brands but they all died the same way. Bearings went due to grit and dust causing heat and melt down. Those dust bags are only for show so if you can use dust extraction they will live a lot longer.
Regards
John
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